Ἢ πῶς μιὰ γνωστὴ ἱστορικός (Av. Cameron, Ὀξφόρδη) ἀντικρούει μιὰ γιββωνικὴ νεκρανάσταση, ἕνα βιβλίο ποὺ ὅπως λέει ἡ κριτικός του συνοψίζεται στὸ ρητὸ «Blame the Christians». Καὶ στὰ δικά μας ἔχουμε ἀνάλογες προσπάθειες, ὅπως ἔχει πεῖ ἕνας ξένος γιὰ τὸ βιβλίο ἑνὸς Ἕλληνα, τὸ ὁποῖο ὁ ξένος συνοψίζει στὴ φράση: «Idolizing paganism – demonizing Christianity». Λεπτομέρεια: Οἱ «ἀλήθειες ποὺ μᾶς κρύβουν» δημοσιεύονται ἀπὸ τοὺς NY Times (ὥστε ὅλοι νὰ λάβουν γνώση γιὰ τὴν ὕπαρξη τοῦ βιβλίου), ἐνῶ τὸ ἄρθρο τῆς Cameron δημοσιεύθηκε σὲ ἕνα ἀσήμαντο περιοδικὸ ποὺ «κανεὶς δὲν ξέρει». Ἔτσι δημιουργεῖται ἡ κοινὴ γνώμη. Ἀλλὰ ἂς διαβάσουμε τὴν Cameron:
We imagined that we had made some progress in finally overturning the Gibbonian model after a mere two and a quarter centuries. But, no. Catherine Nixey is a lively writer and likely to go far, but unfortunately in her first book she has rather unimaginatively bought into the old “blame the Christians” model. […] Did early Christians destroy pagan temples? Some tried, though not many, nor as comprehensively as they claimed; many temples were eventually converted into churches, but at different rates in different regions, and rarely out of simple hostility. Did Christians, including monks, have a role in urban riots? Occasionally, though only in very particular circumstances. Did Christian emperors issue harsh laws against heretics, order the burning of books and ban pagans from public office? Yes, but the law was better at rhetoric than enforcement. Did the Fathers use violent language to condemn deviations from official doctrine? Yes, certainly. But did all this amount to the destruction of the classical world by Christianity, as Nixey’s lurid subtitle claims? Hardly. […] Also conspicuously lacking is any coverage of the mountain of archaeological evidence that shows the actual extent of Christian reuse and adaptation of pagan buildings, as opposed to what some Christians claimed or recorded on inscriptions as having happened.
Βλ. καὶ μιὰ ἄλλη, πολὺ ἐμπεριστατωμένη κριτική.
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